Remembering Heather Ann Dunn

By RACHEL ALEXANDER alexanderr@ canoncitydailyrecord.com

Posted:
01/10/2013 07:46:15 AM MST

Flowers sit near the site of the car crash that killed Cotopaxi's Heather Dunn in August 2012. The site has become a place for Dunn s family and friends to remember her life and love of the Arkansas River Valley. ( Jeff Shane/Daily Record)

In August, one family's reunion turned dark when it became a funeral for one of their own.

Heather Ann Dunn, 41, was killed Aug. 16 in a two-vehicle crash three miles west of Howard on Hwy. 50. William Shaffer, 60, of Iowa, has been charged with one count of vehicular homicide by reckless driving.

"Heather was killed exactly one week before a Dunn Family Reunion in Ogallala, Neb.," Dunn's sister Jennifer Ciancio said in an email to the Daily Record. "She was supposed to share a cabin with her children and grandchildren there, and be surrounded by lots of folks who loved her. Our family members all came to Heather's funeral in Cotopaxi. That was the reunion we never wanted to have."

Dunn was raised in Denver. Her grandmother lived in Florence and her aunt and uncle were in Cotopaxi.

"So we spent just about every weekend of our lives either in Florence or Cotopaxi," Ciancio said. "My family owned a rustic old Homesteader's Cabin in Spruce Basin, and most of Heather's childhood was filled with adventures there."

Ciancio said Dunn was making plans to move into the cabin just before her death.

An artisan, Dunn made a living carving walking sticks from fallen branches, which she sold at Renaissance Festivals and local fairs.

"Heather lived a simple life in the mountains," Ciancio said. "She was a true friend of nature and chose to live with simple provisions as to not harm her environment.

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She valued rock collecting, building trails, interacting with wildlife and spending time by the Arkansas River. She was an avid camper and knew the local area well. Hiking with her children and grandchildren was her greatest joy."

Dunn was the mother of Tiffany Beckham, 24; Traci Brown, 23; and Terence Copeland, 20. She also had three grandchildren -- Caydence, 4; Giovonni, 2 and Natalia, who was born on Dec. 8, 2012.

"Losing Heather has been the greatest tragedy of our lives," Ciancio said. "Our grief is overwhelming enough without the stress of also being immersed into the criminal justice system."

She said the process has been focused on Shaffer and the family feels like "Heather's life and her death are insignificant" in the proceedings.

Shaffer is currently free on $30,000 bond. He has been permitted to return to his home in Iowa pending further court proceeds. He is due in court Friday for a motions hearing.

"We believe that Heather was 'one good reason' (to keep Shaffer in Colorado) and we want the judge to know that Heather's life mattered," Ciancio said.

Ciancio has started an online petition asking that the maximum possible sentence be imposed on Shaffer, which now has 232 signatures.

"We want the judge to impose the maximum sentence against Shaffer for careless driving, with significant time in jail for killing Heather," Ciancio said. "Shaffer should lose his driving privileges for taking the life of an innocent local woman."

A memorial sign has also been posted on Hwy. 50 at mile marker 231 where Dunn died.

"We want people to remember Heather when they drive through the canyon on Highway 50 towards Salida," Ciancio said. "She was killed on a road that she traveled on many times, directly across the river from her favorite place to look for arrowheads. We never got to say goodbye to Heather. Heather's family and friends are now reminded of her unnecessary and violent death every time we travel on Highway 50. Perhaps others will be reminded too."

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